Interview with Conrad Polson
Speaker Key:
IV1: Interviewer (Candace Polson)
IE: Interviewee (Conrad Polson)
[00:01]
IV: Okay, so. I work with Ni Dakinan, Timiskaming First Nation’s Natural Resources department. This interview is a part of our climate change project. We’re trying to understand which plants are important to the community and how we can help with the long-term sustainability of these plants.
IE: Well that’s pretty tough questions. I don’t know what the community uses, I know what I use.
IV: Yeah, no it’s because what we’re doing is we’re interviewing 10-15 elders, and just trying to see which of the plants are the most used among…
IE: Oh.
IV: Yeah.
[01:15]
IE: The plant’s called- it’s a root- it’s called golden thread. And I use that for flu prevention and stuff like that. I suppose if you want to save them plants you’ve got to stop cutting out trees. A lot of the plants, lots of the medicine. I use cedar, I use Labrador tea when I get the chance to go out and pick it.
[02:00]
IV: Okay. You’re jumping ahead of me here. [laughing] Okay so, are you willing to have your interview audio taped for these purposes?
IE: I guess so, for whatever… I don’t know if it’s going to do any good, but…
IV: [laughing] Okay, I just need you to sign right there for consent. And a copy of the transcript will be made available to you, too.
[02:30]
IE: Oh, yeah.
IV: Yeah. And then we’re just going to keep a copy of it. So what is your full name and date of birth?
IE: Conrad Polson. 12 March, 1962.
[02:50]
IV: Do you currently harvest medicinal plants on TFN traditional territory?
IE: Yes.
IV: Do you harvest medicinal plants on lands outside of TFN traditional territory, if so, where? And it doesn’t have to be specific.
IE: Well I… I do in Algonquin territory, I guess you can call it.
IV: So, I’ll just put Algonquin territory on there.
[03:20]
IV: Okay. Have you in the past harvested medicinal plants outside of TFN traditional territory, if so, where?
IE: Yes. Verendrye park, I guess they call it. It is Algonquin territory, ZEC. Kipawa, ZEC.
IV: Okay. So, how often do you now, or did you in the past harvest medicinal plants? We have weekly, monthly, seasonally, only occasionally over the past year, or other.
IE: I’d say occasionally.
[04:00]
IV: And did you gather medicinal plants as a child?
IE: I used to eat plants when I was a child. Flowers out in the fields, choke cherries, stuff like that.
IV: Oh, okay. But not really medicinal plants, though?
IE: I think they were medicinal that’s why I’m still alive.
IV: Oh okay [laughing]
[04:25]
IV: Did anyone teach you about these plants? Which ones were good to eat?
IE: No, just something- natural instinct. [inaudible]
IV: Okay.
[04:40]
IV: Okay, so you said golden thread, cedar, and Labrador tea. What part of the golden thread plant would you use?
IE: Well [inaudible] golden thread is a root. Or a plant, I don’t know the name of the plant.
IV: And how would you prepare it? Make it into a tea, right?
IE: Yeah. Just make it into a tea, yeah.
[05:00]
IV: And what about the cedar, which part of the plant would you use?
IE: Same thing. Cedar boughs, tea. Same with Labrador tea.
IV: And the leaves eh, for the Labrador? Okay, and for cedar, what health issue or ailment.
IE: I use it usually for colds, if I had any but I haven’t had a cold in a long time. No. I just got over one!
IV: Okay.
[05:30]
IV: Anything else? For cedar? Ailments, no? And Labrador tea, what would you use that for?
IE: Same thing, tea.
IV: Same thing, tea. And cold and flu, too?
IE: Mmhmm. IV: Any other plants … that you harvest? No?
IE: No, no. Not really.
[05:50]
IV: Okay, so what would you consider the most important medicinal plant that you currently or in the past have harvested?
IE: Golden thread.
IV: Do you use any medicinal plants in your cooking at all?
IE: No. I should though.
IV: Are there any special habitats or locations that you look for in order to find certain plants?
IE: Mostly in the evergreen bush.
IV: Evergreen bush, okay.
[06:35]
IV: Are there any special weather factors that you look for in order to decide if it’s time to harvest?
IE: Well, golden thread mostly in the fall. Cedar, well, it’s pretty well annually, any time of the year.
IV: Okay.
IE: Same with golden thread. No, not golden thread, Labrador tea.
[07:05]
IV: Labrador anytime, too?
IE: Yeah.
IV: Now, are there any particular rules you use in harvesting? So, for us at the office, what we do is take only a third… one third of the plant that we’re harvesting.
IE: I don’t understand.
IV: We only do one third of- like if we’re harvesting from a plant, we’ll take only a third of the leaves instead of all of it, so basically no over-harvesting.
IE: No, I don’t take more than a handful.
IV: Okay.
[07:55]
IV: Are there any plants that you think animals would use as medicine? Or that you know of.
IE: No, just… a bear would use bear root, they call it. Wike [sp?], I don’t know if that’s the same thing. Everything they eat is pretty natural, so I guess everything is pretty healthy for them.
IV: Okay. Have you noticed any changes over time to any plants that you have traditionally harvest? So, changes in weather, maybe logging impacted it, fewer sites to harvest at. I know some other people that I interviewed have said there are more private property and no trespassing signs now, and…
IE: Yeah, you gotta- pretty much, that’s pretty much it. [laughing]
[09:10]
IV: So have you noticed any changes in your access to medicinal plants?
IE: Yeah. They tend to be farther away I guess.
IV: So normally they’d be closer to- in the community, sort of thing?
IE: Well sometimes there’s- can get it here, but it’s better… I was told it’s better to go get it out on the land.
IV: Yeah. Okay.
[09:45]
IV: Um, are you concerned that climate change could affect your ability to harvest medicinal plants?
IE: Definitely. It’s affecting everything.
IV: And do you consider access to these plants to be integral to your way of life?
IE: Yeah.
[10:10]
IV: And do you have anything else to add, or any questions for me?
IE: No.
IV: Okay. Well thank you very much, that’s- that’s it for that.